Songs of the Solomons: Dubrovnik: Part 1

I haven't posted in well over a week - though I'm still feeling pressure about the amount of pictures I have and the stories I'm supposed to be telling that I can't remember or I've deemed inappropriate and I've worked late a lot of nights this week and haven't had TIME to gather my thoughts. So I'm sorry! I'll hopefully get caught up on Croatia and post about Amsterdam before we head to Munich for Oktoberfest this weekend!

So anyways, we had a harrowing drive to Dubrovnik and arrived relaxed in our apartment building on the terrace and had dinner somewhere that I can't remember. And let me tell you...it was HOT. Hot hot hot hot hot as hell.

There are lots of "touristy" things to do in Dubrovnik and we decided to knock them all out the first full day we had there so we could chill the rest of the time. These touristy activities included touring Walls of Dubrovnik, the defensive stone walls that have protected the city since the 7th century(!) which are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as a funicular that goes up the mountain overlooking the city (but more on that in another post).

Drew and I have acquired several Rick Steves books about Europe throughout our time here, and he always includes great "walking tours" in his books to help you explore the city yourself. Drew took it upon himself to act as our own personal Rick Steves as we walked around the streets of the Old Town, learning about the history of the city. Here are some pics of our tour and of the wall.

Drew reading about the history of the main square to the group in a patch of shade.

Screenin' it up.

As I mentioned, it was SO. HOT. in the city. And this was one way Clark chose to cool down.

And this is how Drew chose to cool down. (Sticking his head in a fountain.)

And this is how we tried (and failed) to cool down.

Fans are manly too, guys.

I feel a little guilty for not including a ton of history about the city, but it's so vast and so much that I'm just not sure I can. Just know that it's been around since the 7th century, was under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, then Venice, then became it's own republic and had huge success with maritime trading, then there was a huge earthquake in 1667 that destroyed everything, and then they got everything back up and running only for Napoleon to take over, then the Hapsburgs took over, then they fell after WWI, then they were free at some points in between all this, and then after WWII Italy/Germany gained control, they became part of communist Yugoslavia, and then Yugoslavia broke up in 1991 and they had horrible civil wars not so long ago. Whew. That was exhausting.

And with our city tour complete, we scaled the walls. Rick Steves warned us that the walls get UNBELIEVABLY HOT, like even hotter than down in the city, and that the worst time of day to go was around noon. So when did we decide to go? High noon! The walls are tall (close to 80 feet at some places), have lots of stairs, are almost 2 miles long, and....hot. It was pretty touch-and-go there for awhile but we thankfully made it - because if you brave the walls, you reward yourself with some spectacular views.

One big happy sweaty family.

We stopped at a gift shop on the wall where Drew stuck napkins to his forehead to absorb the sweat.

Cannon pic.

Clark acquired this Captain's hat on the wall and didn't take it off the rest of the trip.

This was Buza II, a really amazing bar/swim area on the outside of the wall. We came here a lot for the Croatian beer and the people watching. Lots of gorgeous water and cliff divers!